Bitcoin and Ethereum later recovered from their overnight lows. At the time of writing, bitcoin was trading at $83,694 and Ethereum at $2,531, according to hourly Binance BTC/USDT and ETH/USDT charts published by TradingView and TradingView.

Other cryptoassets also declined alongside the market’s two largest cryptocurrencies. Some altcoins lost between 1% and 9% or more, according to market data compiled by CryptoRank.

The rapid drop set off a wave of futures liquidations. Daily liquidation volume exceeded $820 million, with most of the total coming from long positions held by traders betting on further price gains, CoinGlass data showed.

The correction was sharp and short-lived, and the cryptoasset fear and greed index recorded no significant change. The indicator declined by two points over 24 hours but remained in the green zone, according to CoinStats.

Possible reasons for the sell-off

No single specific factor had been identified as the cause of the market decline at the time of writing. The correction was most likely driven by a combination of macroeconomic pressure, outflows from spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and a domino effect from long liquidations.

Between October 5 and October 9, 2026, investors withdrew $681.1 million from funds based on bitcoin. Combined outflows from those products and Ethereum-based ETFs totaled $1.2 billion.

Oil prices also surged overnight on the evening of October 12. Brent crude broke above $107 a barrel before retreating.

The oil-price increase was driven by further escalation in the Middle East. That pressure weighed on the stock market, with which cryptocurrencies are directly correlated, while the dollar and yields on long-term U.S. Treasury bonds strengthened.

However, the market’s swift recovery after the decline indicated that the sell-off appeared to have been driven largely by a high concentration of long positions.

Source: Incrypted